Of Tears and Kumajirou
by Soot
Summary: Arthur feels the need to show Matthew, after a meeting goes south, that he is actually thought off and cared for. England/Canada.


Title: Of Tears and Kumajirou

Summary: Arthur feels the need to show Matthew, after a meeting goes south, that he is actually thought off and cared for. England/Canada.

Disclaimer: I do not own and never will.

Warning: Slash. Don't like don't read.

A/N: I can simply attribute this story to a brain wave I had a few weeks back, (the brain wave of which I am incredibly proud of!). I felt again that Canada needed more love, so here is a story based on me scheming to get him more love and, lets face it, we all love Matthew, even if some of us don't know it yet.

Another monotonous meeting was under way and Arthur could feel his eye's becoming heavier and heavier as Alfred prattled on about how super heroes and burgers would save the world from global warming, evil Russian ninjas (of which Ivan found amusing and others rather worrying) and combat shit TV. None of this was new for Arthur and as a result, he longed for a good cup of tea, a Charles Dickens book, and a comfortable arm chair with preferably something he could rest his feet on too. He passed what seemed to be hours in a hazy daze of mumbled words and stifling yawns.

However, all that changed when the usual debate took over where nations started bickering amongst one another and always left one or two wondering how any of them were still friends at all after it. In short, it was a free for all.

"Where's that teddy of yours?" Alfred asked, the question coming across as being unintentionally malicious. Arthur looked across at Matthew, only just realising that Matthew was without his polar bear which he was usually seen with. Thinking about it, Arthur thought that Matthew looked slightly odd without him. For the life of him though, he couldn't remember the name of that damn bear.

Matthew stuttered in response, nervous because all of a sudden instead of being invisible, everyone's attention was on him.

"Having a teddy is totally not awesome". Gilbert smirked. No one quite knew why Gilbert was present at the meeting as he was no longer a nation. Every one who had given him a second thought though put it down to someone letting him in out of sympathy. He still had that damn attitude though.

"He's not a teddy!" Matthew shouted, but the volume of his shout only came to the normal speaking level of average people. It only made the two of them worse.

"Oh Matthew!" Alfred laughed. "You need to lose the teddy and have a burger".

Gilbert moved next to Matthew and started poking him. "Only babies have teddy's. Are you a baby? Because being a baby is totally not awesome".

"Matthew's a baby". Alfred laughed. "Someone find him his teddy".

Matthew, with tears brimming in his eyes, raced out the meeting room, a single hand trying to cover his face as embarrassment burned his cheeks. Arthur moved to Alfred's side before he thwacked him hard around the back of the head, causing Alfred to give a yelp in both pain and surprise.

"What was that for?" Alfred whined as he rubbed the back of his head affectionately.

"For upsetting Matthew". Arthur growled in response.

"Come on Iggy". Alfred pouted. "He'll get over it".

Arthur thwacked Alfred round the back of the head again. "Stop calling me Iggy, and that's besides the point!"

Before Alfred could even try to form a reply, Arthur had also taken off out of the room, making sure to bat Gilbert on the back of the head too for his part.

Once outside the conference room, Arthur went looking for the upset nation. He knew he was passive aggressive (and he had failed to as yet congratulate him on making Alfred cry a few months back), but sometimes words cut deep, extremely deep. He heard muffled sobs coming from a storage cupboard a small way down the corridor. Arthur stood listening for several moments, horrified that such a gentle nations could be turned on in such a barbaric way. Granted, Arthur had never been the most observant nation the world had ever know, and the chances were he was never going to be either, but right now he was observing the damage done in the meeting room that he had to set right … or at least try to.

Walking up to the door, he knocked on it three times and waited for an answer.

"Go away". Was the muffled reply.

"Matthew, let me in". Arthur replied, refusing to move until he had at least tried to cheer up the distraught, maple obsessed nation.

"I said ~ hiccup ~go away". Came the reply again, Arthur distinctly able to hear sniffles.

"I'm coming in". Arthur simply responded and opened the door. The poor Canadian in his plight had not even locked it.

"No". Matthew moaned and buried his head in his arms. Arthur closed the door behind them to give themselves some privacy before kneeling down in front of Matthew, resting a hand on his arm.

"Come on Matthew, please look at me". He tried to be persuasive, squeezing Matthew's arm lightly. With no response forth coming, Arthur moved himself so he was sat by the side of the Canadian before wrapping his arms around him, pulling Matthew close. Matthew crumbled and started weeping into Arthur's green uniform.

"I'm not a baby. And my polar bears name is Kumajirou". Matthew sobbed. The only thing Arthur could think of to do was to agree with him (which he already did, he remembered the polar bear as clear as day. Matthew had grown up cuddling the thing to death), and to keep him in a tight embrace. He had a thought to run his hand through Matthew's hair, but he just settled for placing a hand on the back of his neck instead in another attempt to be compassionate and comforting.

After several minutes, Matthew began to calm enough to collect himself again. Pulling back from Arthur (but not so much as to remove himself from Arthur's arms), he wiped his eyes with the cuffs of his suit and took a couple deep breaths before speaking. "Why did you follow me?"

"I was worried about you". Arthur replied, think again how odd Canada looked without his polar bear in his arms.

"Really. But why me? I'm not special. People look right through me. Why would I deserve this special attention". Matthew spoke his thoughts, becoming more flustered with every passing second.

"I wouldn't come looking for just anyone". Arthur soothed him, a delicate smile gracing his lips and his hand coming to rest on Matthew's cheek as Matthew looked up at him, disbelief written across his face.

"You ignore me. Alfred was, and always will be, your favourite". Matthew sniffled. "So why would you suddenly care?"

Arthur closed the distance between them and placed a quick kiss on Matthew lips. Matthew was stunned into complete silence by the sudden gesture. "People make mistakes". Arthur replied. "I don't deserve forgiveness so I'm not going to ask for it but please, don't allow that misconception to cloud and twist your mind. Your too beautiful to become warped by hatred".

The hand fell from Matthew's cheek as Arthur made to stand up and leave. Matthew watched him, mulling over the Englishman's words before coming to a sudden conclusion that to let Arthur walk away would be one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Arthur had been honest with him; he knew he had ignored him in the past, seen straight through him like so many other nations did; but now he was trying to make amends. Someone actually cared about him. Matthew could count of on one hand how many people he knew had cared about him.

Jumping to his feet, Matthew wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck and tried to kiss him. He succeeded though only in pressing his lips to the corner of Arthur's mouth, his hair also getting in the way. Arthur cupped Matthew's chin with his hand. Matthew pulled back thinking he had missed his chance, his eyes dropping to the floor because he couldn't think of any where else to look. Arthur chuckled slightly before proceeding to kiss Matthew senseless, pushing him up against the wall, his hands going through the Canadian's silk blonde hair in a gesture of affection.

Pulling back, Arthur looked at the Canadian. His cheeks were tinted again, but not because of embarrassment or upset. This time the tint was graced with a smile. Arthur thought that it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen (and he had been around long enough to know).

"Do we have to go back to the meeting?" Matthew finally asked after catching his breath. He was not sure if he could face Alfred and Gilbert again in the same day.

"No. I think we can cut our loses today and leave early". Arthur smiled before placing one last quick, chaste kiss on Matthew's lips before dragging him back out the storage room. The light outside the closest made Matthew shield his eyes at first, but when he felt an arm encircle his waist he couldn't suppress the smile that it brought to his face. He looked at Arthur and, resting his head on the Englishman's shoulder, found himself grateful that Alfred could be at times, in Arthur's words, be such a twat.

End.

A/N: I wrote this listening to 'Canadian, Please' by Andrew Gunadie and Julia Bentley. I recommend listening to it. Its AMAZING!


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